UAE | Health

Patients celebrate New Year’s Eve

Dubai: More than 60 patients in Rashid Hospital’s Trauma Centre were made to feel special on New Year’s Eve through personal visits and gifts.

For those who aren’t fortunate to be healthy enough to indulge in year-end festivities, the Spread a Smile event, organised by Oxygen Management Consultant, was considered a blessing.

Speaking to Gulf News, the patients said they were touched by the gesture.

Emirati Saeed Abdullah, a security manager, was injured in a road accident. He told Gulf News that he usually celebrates New Year’s Eve with friends and family over dinner and late night coffee. “I’ve been here since December 17. My kids visit me regularly, but I told them not to come by today,” he said. Another patient’s brother in law, Indian expatriate Manoj, said that the prognosis is not good. “My brother in law is semi-conscious. We appreciate the visit and the blessings.”

The duty doctor at the Centre told Gulf News that most of the patients are in an acute medical condition which affects them psychologically. “Brightening their day with gifts and talking to them positively impacts their mood and even the treatment outcome. Compassion aids healing,” said emergency physician Dr Saeed Ashraf Hydros Thangal.

According to the organiser, the initiative helps bring a smile to a person experiencing mental, physical and emotional challenges due to his or her medical condition.

Muneer Samnani, managing director, told Gulf News that the idea of the initiative is to touch lives that have been negatively affected. “Meeting patients is a way to reach out to them. In turn we realise how fortunate we are,” he said.